History Department Breaks Down Impeachment

Founder Colonel Francis Wayland Parker believed schools needed to play a role in fostering and nurturing critically thinking and informed citizenry to maintain and strengthen our nation’s democracy. This mindset became a central tenet of our school, and so, with the Impeachment proceedings taking place in our nation’s capital and a subject of discussion all over the world, the History Department believed it was important to engage with our students on this topic and provide them with an informed, robust understanding of impeachment as a whole during Morning Ex on Monday.

Looking back to our nation’s founding, the History Department explained impeachment’s roots in the Constitutional Convention and our Founding Fathers’ belief in the importance of including it in the Constitution. The department then began explaining the text as it appears in the Constitution and supplying a thorough breakdown on the exact meaning of impeachment. Specifically, they explained who is responsible for the impeachment process, who presides at the trial, who is the jury, and how many people are needed to convict and remove a President from office.

Armed with this understanding of the process, the History Department discussed key moments when the government has pursued an impeachment inquiry against a sitting President, including Andrew Johnson, Richard Nixon and Bill Clinton. Finally, the department explained the status of the current impeachment process and next steps.

Although Morning Ex was over the discussion did not end here. Next our Upper School History and Social Studies course Civil Liberties and the American State organized a Teach-In for their peers to dive deeper into this topic. And Parker was lucky enough to have WBEZ come and record this great student-run experience.

When speaking about these experiences, Upper School History and Social Studies teacher Kevin Colon said, “My department colleagues and I believe an important part of what we do is to prepare students to be informed, thoughtful, active and engaged citizens who will be part of democracy’s future. This is a small part of that mission.”

Click here for photos.